Due Diligence Land: What It Means and Why It Matters for Mumbai Households

When you're hiring a domestic helper, a trusted professional hired to manage household tasks like cleaning, cooking, or childcare. Also known as maid, househelp, or domestic worker, it's not just about finding someone who shows up—it's about making sure they're safe, reliable, and legally hired. Too many households skip the basics and end up with surprises: unverified backgrounds, unpaid wages, or even legal trouble. This isn't just about ethics—it’s about protecting your home, your family, and your peace of mind.

Due diligence in this space means checking things most people ignore. Did the worker have a clear employment history? Are they paid at least the legal minimum wage of ₹11,500/month in Mumbai? Do they have valid ID, and is their Aadhaar linked to their work? These aren’t paperwork exercises—they’re real safeguards. You wouldn’t hire a driver without checking their license. Why treat a person who cooks your food or watches your kids any differently? The same logic applies to domestic worker salary, the legal and fair pay rate for household labor in Mumbai, ranging from ₹11,500 to ₹22,000 in 2025. Paying less invites exploitation. Paying more without structure invites confusion. Clarity is your best tool.

And it’s not just about the worker. It’s about your rights too. If you sign a verbal agreement, you have no proof of duties, hours, or leave. If you don’t verify references, you risk bringing someone into your home with no track record. That’s why the best households use written contracts, ask for ID copies, and confirm previous employers. This isn’t distrust—it’s smart planning. You don’t need to be a lawyer, but you do need to know what to ask. What hours? What tasks? What happens if they’re sick? What if you need to let them go? These questions aren’t cold—they’re necessary.

Across Mumbai, families are learning that the cheapest helper isn’t always the best. The one who shows up on time, knows how to use a pressure cooker, remembers your child’s allergies, and doesn’t vanish after a month—that’s the one worth verifying. That’s the one you build trust with. And trust doesn’t come from a quick WhatsApp chat. It comes from household chores, the daily tasks managed by domestic workers, including cleaning, laundry, cooking, and sometimes childcare or errands. When you define those chores clearly, you set the stage for a working relationship that lasts.

What you’ll find below isn’t a list of job postings. It’s a collection of real, practical guides—on how to set fair pay, what to include in a rent agreement for live-in help, how to avoid scams, and why subvention-style payment plans from agencies can backfire. You’ll see what other Mumbai households have learned the hard way. No fluff. No sales pitches. Just what works.